Chloe Gardner

2/2/16
English II Block 2
Harkness Discussion 2 Notes
1. Who really was driving when Myrtle was struck and killed? Can Nick be
sure? Can we? If Nick insists that a person shouldn't criticize others,
then why does it matter who killed her?
a. The question of who actually killed Myrtle is one the reader
cannot securely answer. Having the reader know who killed her
does not overly matter because it was a freak accident. This is
due to the fact that if Daisy was the one who killed, she had no
idea that Myrtle was the mistress, and it just happens that Myrtle
is whom she hit.
i. Pages 143-144
2. Take a look at Nick's opening lines. If we take this advice when we
read The Great Gatsby, do our views of the novel change? Does
refraining from criticism promote compassion, or amorality? Is criticism
actually necessary?
a. To remove all criticism of others would be slightly impossible, and
it would give the reader extremely different views of each
character. We, as the reader, do not have a complete bullet point
list of each characters backstory, and it would make sense to
take out the judgment. Knowing the backstory could also help
the reader understand certain characters motives for say Toms
affair.
i. On page 44 there are a few people standing around Nick
speculating about Gatsbys past, and slightly judging him
for what they think he has done.
3. How does the character of Nick (inside the story, not the voice telling
it) change over the course of the novel? What about the narrative
voice? Although the entire story is told in retrospect, does the act of
telling it create changes in his narrative style?
a. Over the course of the novel, Nick becomes now involved in the
upper class society, much more than he was in the beginning. He
was so out of the inner circle at the beginning of the book, but at
the end he was at all the parties and even a close friend to
Gatsby.
i. Pages 37-38 (Nick outside the circle)
4. According to the novel, what is it about the past that draws us both
forward and leaves us stuck where we are? How can we be set free of
the past? Can the novel Gatsby itself help us get free, or does it just
leave us stuck in the past?

a. Gatsby himself is so stuck in the past it is keeping him from

moving on with his life. Gatsby could have lived anywhere and he
could have possibly been more successful living in the city, but
he had to live in a place where he could constantly see Daisy. He
was so obsessed with the idea of recreating the past it blocked
him off emotionally.
i. Top of page 110, Cant repeat the past? he cried
incredulously. Why of course you can!
5. Is Gatsby great? In what way? How might he not be great? Does his
greatness evolve over the course of the novel? What is the difference,
in this text, between perceived greatness and actual greatness?
a. Gatsbys backstory is what makes him great. He came from
nothing, a lower class, with no money. He was able to literally
make an empire, he lives in a palace, and he has everything a
man could ask for. While some may think his greatness comes
from all of the money and his material things, but his real
greatness, in my opinion, comes from the way he raised up
fluidly through the social classes till he made his way to the top,
a thing that was not common at all during this time period.
i. Page 92 (Material things)